Cyclist’s conflict with SFPD could take nine months or more to resolve

Photo of Adrienne Johnson (taken by her husband) and the car driven by an officer she says threatened her.

As happens at some point to most people who ride a bike in San Francisco, Adrienne Johnson had a scary brush with an irate motorist, though her story took on much darker implications when she found out who that driver worked for.

The incident occurred a week and a half ago on Valencia Street, between

When she told the motorist there were two cyclists trailing her (her son

and husband) she thought she heard him call her a bitch. She

gave him the finger and he raced up beside her, threatening to knock her

off her bike. When he drove ahead of her, Johnson saw red and blue

lights through his rear window (visible in the photo above) and realized

he was a plainclothes officer in an unmarked patrol car.

Johnson did the prudent thing and filed a complaint with police at Mission Station. She was thrilled with the reception she received from the desk officer and his supervisor, both of whom encouraged her to proceed with her formal complaint and provide as much evidence as possible.

"I went in expecting them to try to talk me down, but I got

the

sense as soon as I started describing the guy in the car, the officer

knew who I was talking about," said Johnson. "There was no doubt that

what I was saying was true."

That sense of satisfaction evaporated when Johnson heard that investigations at the Office of Citizens Complaints (OCC) take on average nine months to be completed, and longer if litigation is involved.